Handled open end can carton



March 5, 1957 J. D. CRARY ETAL 2,783,690

HANDLEID OPEN END CAN CARTON Filed Aug. 17. 1953 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1INVENTORE JAY D. CRARY BY VAN T. BURLE'IGH ATTORNEY March 5, 1957 J. D.CRARY EI'AL 2,783,590

HANDLED OPEN END CAN CARTON Filed Aug. 17. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

INVENTORS JAY D. CRARY Ii 7 15 BY VAN T. BURLEIGH v M W ATTORNEY HANDLEDornN END CAN CARTON Jay D. Crary and Van T. Burieigh, Portland, reg.,as-

signors, by mesne assignments, to Paper Strap, Inc., Portland, Greg, acorporation of Oregon Application August I7, 1953, Serial No. 374,537

Claims. (Cl. 93-1) The present invention relates to handled containersor cartons and to methods of manufacturing the same.

A principle object of the present invention is to provide a simple,inexpensive handle arrangement for cartons.

Another object of the invention is to provide a handle arrangement for acarton that will not interfere with the placement of advertising matterupon the exterior surfaces of the carton.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a handle arrangementwhereby the handle may be applied to the blank by the cartonmanufacturer, the handle being so arranged that it will not interferewith the packaging operations of the user.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedmethod of attaching a handle onto a carton. Other objects and advantagesof the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.

In accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the invention the cartonblank is prepared having portions defining an end or top wall, andopposite side walls from each of which extends a flap adapted to beoverlapped and secured together to form the bottom of the carton. Thetop wall is formed with a transverse slot through which projects theintermediate portion of a handle memher, the opposite ends of the handlemember being secured to the inside surface of the side wall portions ofthe carton. In accordance with the described methods the handle ends maybe secured to the inside surface of the carton blank when it is unfoldedand flat, or when folded inside out in a manner to be described in moredetail hereinafter. For a more detailed description of the features ofthe invention, attention is directed to the accompanying drawings andthe following description thereof.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a handled cartonformed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view illustrating a strap such as may be usedfor forming the handle member incorporated in the carton shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the carton blank prior to the folding thereof;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the carton blank shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view showing a step in the assembly of the carton about anumber of cans prepared to be packaged within the carton;

Fig. 6 is a view showing the carton when the packaging operation hasbeen completed;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a step of an alternativemethod of attaching the handle to the carton shown in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 8 is a successive step of said alternative method;-

means Fig. 11 is a further diagrammatic view showing a successive stepin the latter mentioned method;

Fig. 12 is a view showing the blank with a handle attached in accordancewith the method of Figs. 10 and 11; and

Fig. 13 is a view showing the carton blank inverted in position relativeto the View of Fig. 12.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention is primarilyconcerned with the attachment of strap handles to wrap-around cartons ofthe type shown in Fig. 1 wherein is shown an open end carton 10 having ahandle 11 attached thereto. It is to be understood, however, that theinvention is not limited to use with cartons of the illustrated type butis adapted for use with other types of cartons as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the carton it} isadapted to be made of paper board, corrugated fiber board or the like,and comprises a top or end wall 13 hingedly and integrally connected toopposite side walls 14 along parallel fold lines 15. Connected to thelower ends of the side walls 14 along fold lines 17 are flaps M whichare adapted to be overlapped and glued together to form the bottom wallof the container as will presently appear. The carton is illustrated asadapted for carrying six cans indicated at 19 and accordingly the cartonblank is formed with suitable small openings 20 along each of the foldlines 15, 17 through which the top and bottom rims of the cans mayproject when the carton is wrapped about the cans. Referring to Figs. 5and 6, the cans are packaged within the carton it by placing the cansupright upon the upwardly facing inside surface of the top wall 12 ofthe flattened blank and thereafter folding the side walls 14 upwardlyalong fold lines 15 and folding the flaps i6 inwardly along the foldline 17 and overlapping and gluing the flaps so as to secure the sidewalls 14 snugly against the sides of the cans 19. Preferably the cartonblank is so formed that the distance between the fold lines 15 isslightly less than twice the diameter of the cans 19 as measured acrossthe flanged rims thereof whereby the cans will be held snugly inposition. The carton is shown upside down in Fig. 6 at the completion ofthe packaging operation.

, In accordance with the present invention a handle is provided for thecarton it) which may be easily grasped by a purchaser to carry thecarton, but which is arranged on the blank so as not to interfere withthe printing of advertising matter or other directions upon the exteriorsurfaces of the carton, or so as to interfere with the shipping of theempty cartons or with the packaging operations. In accordance with theinvention the top Wall 13 is provided with a transverse slot or opening24 spaced medially between the opposite ends of the wall and extendingsubstantially at right angles to the fold lines 15. The opposite ends ofthe handle 11 are glued or otherwise suitably secured to the interiorsurfaces of the side walls 14, suflicient slack being provided in theintermediate portion of the handles to provide a loop which may projectthrough the slot 24 for grasping as indicated in Fig. l.

Preferably the handle member 11 is formed from a length of paper strap,a short section of which is illustrated in the enlarged perspective viewof Fig. 2. This strap consists of a strip of relatively thin and toughkraft paper, the opposite longitudinal edge portions of which are foldedover upon themselves a plurality of times as indicated at 25. Theparticular form of paper strap shown is more fully described and isclaimed in my Patent No. 2,499,463.

In accordance with one method of the invention, to attach the handle tothe carton blank the opposite end portions 26 of a suitable length ofsuch paper strap areadhesively secured to the inside surface of theopposite side walls 14 with the intermediate portion of the strap iatented Mar. 5, 1957 in register with the opening 24 while the blank isin flattened condition as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Preferably the foldedside of the strap is faced outwardly from thesurface of thecarton;and;in=securing the.-strap end portions onto the blank a sslightamount -of slack is 7 provided in the intermediate portion thereof asindicated most clearly in Fig. 4. ,Such a flat folded, handled blank isadapted to be stacked with a number of like blanks for shipment to theuser.

A further suitable method of'attaching the handlesll onto the cartonblanks. is illustratedrin partby thediagrammatic views of Figs. 7, 8 and9. In accordance'with that method, the carton blanks are doubled insideout along a line 28 spaced medially between thefold lines 15. Theflat,-folded blanks, are fed, in acontinuous movement, folded endfirst,in the direction indicated. Ameasured length of paper strip'llpreviously severed from'asupply roll and having the opposite'endportions 26 coated with a suitable adhesive isfed in-a direction normalto the plane of the blank 10 into the path of forward travel ofthe'blank. As the carton blank 10 approaches the strap 11, the latter isdoubled upon itself as indicatedin Fig. 9, with the adhesive coatedsurfaces of the strap'facing the carton. The carton is fed between theends of the strap 11 simultaneously with the folding .of the latter sothat by the time the folding of the strap upon itself is completed, theopposite end portions 26 of the handle strap engage with the oppositeexposed surfaces of the carton side walls 14 as illustrated in Fig. 9.The carton blank 1d and strap 11 are guided so that the end portions 26of the strap are positioned on the blank in alignment with the slot 24and the intermediate portion of the strap is in register with the slot.Also the doubled length of the intermediate portion of the strap isslightly greater than the distance between a fold line and the fold line28 whereby slack will be provided to form a loop for grasping to carrythe set up carton. Pressure is then applied upon the assembly andmaintained until the adhesive has set sufficiently to permit packagingof the handled cartons.

An alternative method of attaching the handles 11 onto the blanks of thecarton 10 is illustrated in Figs. 10 to 13, inclusive. In accordancewith the method shown'in those views, the carton blank is folded insideout along one of the fold lines 15 and is fed folded end first inthe-direction indicated. A measured lengthof paper strap 11 previouslysevered from a supply roll and having the opposite end portions 26coated with a suitable adhesive is fed in ,a direction normal to theplane of the carton 10 and into the path of forward travel of thecarton. As the carton it approaches the strap 11, the latter is foldedtransversely upon itself as indicated in Fig. 11 with the adhesivecoated surfaces of the strap facing the carton. It will be noted that inthis instance the strap is not folded at its midpoint as was done in thenext previously described method and as indicated in Fig. 8, but is,instead, folded at a point offset from the middle so as to provide along and a short leg on the folded strap. The folding of the strap 11 isarranged so that the long leg 30 of the strap is folded across the endwall 13 and unfolded side wall 14, while the short leg 31 is broughtinto engagement with the side wall 14 which is folded back against theend wall 13. The carton is fed between the ends of the strap 11simultaneously with the folding of the latter so that as the folding ofthe strap is completed the opposite end portions 26 of the handle strapare engaged with the opposite exposed inner wall surfaces of the sidewalls 14 as illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13,. Pressure is then appliedupon the assembly and maintained until the adhesive has set to permitpackaging of the cartons. The length of the strap Ill is adjusted sothat the folded .end of the strap projects slightly beyond the foldedend of the carton as in the method described nest above. This is done soas to provide slack in the intermediate portion of the handle whereby itmayproject outwardly through the slot 24 when the carton is set up.

The above described methods of attaching the handle to the folded cartonblanks are quite similar to the method for attaching handles to bagsdescribed in Patent No. 2,635,510, issued to Frank A. Grant. Theapparatus shown and claimed in that patent can be used with slightmodification'for attaching the handles to the cartons by these lattermethods as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

in addition to preserving the entire side faces of the carton for thepresentation of advertising material, attachingthe-strap handle ends .tothe interior surfaces of the side walls has further advantages. For onething, cartons may be stacked upon a shelf more readily than if thehandie is attached to the exterior surface since in the latter case theedges of the side walls 14 may catch upon .thehandle as'one carton isslid .in place along side a previously positioned carton. Also, theplacement'of the handles on the interior surfaces of the cartonfacilitates the wrap-around packaging since nothing projects from theside of the carton to catch on the parts of the packaging'machinery.

Havingillustrated and described preferred'embodiments of the invention,it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inventionpermits of modifications in arrangements and detail. We claim as ourinvention all such modifications'as come within the true .spiritandscope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method of manufacturing acontainer'comprising forming a containerblank having an end wall and opposite side walls hingedly connectedtogether along parallel fold lines, said end wall having .a transverseslot therein extending substantiallyat right angles to said fold lines,

folding *said blank inside out along a line intermediate said side wallsand parallel to said fold lines, folding a length of strap transverselyintermediate its ends and arrangingsaid strap on said blank with theopposite end portions of the strap in alignment with said slot andoverlapping corresponding ones of said side walls, and adhesivelysecuringsaid end portions to the inside surface of said correspondingside walls.

2. The method of manufacturing a handled carton comprising forming acarton blank having an end wall and opposite side walls hingedlyconnected along parallel fold lines, said .end wall having an openingtherein extending transversely of said end wall substantially at rightangles to said fol-d lines, folding said blank inside out along one ofsaid fold lines, applying adhesive to opposite end portions of a lengthof strap, folding said strap transversely of the opposite ends thereofand positioning the same on said blank with said opposite end portionsoverlapping corresponding ones of said side wall portions, and pressingsaid end portions onto the inside surface of corresponding ones of saidside wall portions to cause said end portions to adhere to saidsurfaces.

3. In a method of manufacturing a container, the steps comprisingforming a container blank having an end wall and opposite side wallshingedly connected thereto along parallel fold lines, said end wallhaving an elongated opening therein extending substantially at rightangles to said fold line, folding said blank inside out along one ofsaid fold lines,folding a length of handle defining strap transverselyintermediate its ends and arranging said strap on .said blank with theopposite end portions of the strap in alignment with said slot andoverlapping said side walls, and securing said end portions to theinside surface of said corresponding side walls.

4. The method of manufacturing a handled carton comprising the steps offorming a carton blank having an end wall and opposite side Wallshingedly [connected to said end wall along parallel fold lines, saidendwall having a transverse slot extending at right angles to said foldlines, folding said blank inside out along a line parallel with andsubstantially medially between said fold lines, doubling a length ofst-rap endwise upon itself, inserting the carton blank between thedoubled end portions of said strap with the axis of said slot inalignment with the longitudinal axis of said strap and with the foldedend of said blank adjacent the transverse fold of said strap, andsecuring the opposite end portions of said strap to the inner surface ofthe corresponding side wall.

5. In the method of manufacturing a handled carton, the steps comprisingforming a carton blank having an end wall and opposite side wallshingedly connected together along parallel fold lines, said end wallhaving a transverse slot therein substantially at right angles to saidfold lines, folding said blank inside out along a line parallel to saidfold lines and spaced medially there between, adhesively coatingopposite end portions of a length of strap, doubling said strap uponitself with the coated surfaces of saidv stnap facing one another,inserting the carton blank between the opposite end portions of saidstrap with the axis of said slot in alignment with said strap andpressing said coated end portions onto the inside surface of thecorresponding side wall portions to cause said end portions to adhere tosaid surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,943,093 Sherman Jan. 9, 1934 2,006,786 Beauvisage July 2, 19352,028,085 Brunt Jan. 14, 1936 2,095,139 Kind Oct. 5, 1937 2,499,463Crary Mar. 7, 1950 2,603,923 Chidsey July 22, 1952 2,635,510 Grant Apr.21, 1953 2,682,990 Crary July 6, 1954 2,723,027 Guyer Nov. 8, 1955

